Capo di casa vs. capo della casa

Question

There is a TV show currently in USA that has two hosts, an Italian, and an American of Italian ancestry who (apparently) can speak Italian. Every episode at least once includes the phrase "capo di casa." Is that an error or a legitimate Italian expression? Why is it not "capo della casa"?

These American chefs are competing to become the “capo di casa” — WGroleau, May 18 '23 at 13:25

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered May 18 '23 at 17:37

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'Capo di casa' and 'capo della casa' express the same concept. They only interposed a simple preposition (capo di casa) and an articulated one (capo della casa). it is therefore not an error and can be considered a legitimate sentence.

answered May 18 '23 at 17:37

Giovanni Desiderio

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So "di" is not a contraction of "de i"? – WGroleau May 18 '23 at 18:46
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@WGroleau: No, and that's a quite bizarre conjecture, since de is not a word of modern Italian, and i wouldn't agree with casa. – DaG May 18 '23 at 19:53

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered May 21 '23 at 08:53

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"Capo di casa" is indeed correct, bit it's not something we say in Italy. Over here there are two set phrases: "padrone di casa" which means "master of the house" (un buon padrone di casa = a good master of the house, a good host) and the legal term "capofamiglia", head of the family, the person (man or woman) who is the legal head of a family.

answered May 21 '23 at 08:53

Sgraphunchius

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The context is that the the winner of the cooking competition will be "capo di casa." Does that change your answer? – WGroleau May 21 '23 at 14:32
@WGroleau: I agree with the answerer that, while capo di casa is a sequence utterable in Italian, it's not quite idiomatic and, if anything, a bit puzzling. In which sense capo (i.e. “chief”)? Do you give orders to other people? Relatives, servants? I'd wonder. – DaG May 24 '23 at 10:46
"Chef" is pretty much French for "chief," and he/she would presumably give orders to others in the kitchen. Is it idiomatic in that context? Alex Guarnaschelli is American, but Gabe Bertaccini was born and raised in Firenze. (But he has been living in Los Angeles for years.) – WGroleau May 24 '23 at 15:32
Yes, @WGroleau, French chef and English chief are cognate words, and so is, from farther away, Italian capo (all of them descending from Latin caput, “head”), but capo has nothing to do with cooks and kitchens. One can be a capo of several things: a military unit, an office, a building site, a caravan, even a team of waiters (and much more), but it's not normally used for a kitchen. Perhaps that phrase was born as an in-joke or as a error someone made. – DaG May 24 '23 at 16:55
Perhaps. That's basically my question, although it was the 'i' in 'di' that made me incorrectly think masculine plural. – WGroleau May 24 '23 at 21:40

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 02 '23 at 08:48

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Tbh I've never heard anyone one using that expression. People usually say "Lui è il capo famiglia"

answered Jun 02 '23 at 08:48

E.V.

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Capo di casa vs. capo della casa

3 Answers3